The No. 2 man in a multimillion-dollar cigarette smuggling operation based out of West Ocean City has pleaded guilty to corruption charges and now faces prison time in New York state.

Samer Ramadan, 40, pleaded guilty June 27 to the top charge against him of enterprise corruption, according to the New York Attorney General's Office. In a statement in open court, he admitted his role in the operation run by his brother, prosecutors said, including stating that his brother ran the enterprise.

He now faces a prison sentence of two to six years, prosecutors said.

In a 303-page indictment of the cigarette smuggling and money laundering operation, dubbed Operation Tobacco Road, prosecutors identify Samir Ramadan as the treasurer. The indictment says he focused on control and disbursement of the cash generated by the enterprise.

The indictment also calls him the "right hand" of boss Basel Ramadan, his older brother. Federal agents raided Basel Ramadan's home in May 2013, seizing $1.4 million in cash and three handguns from the property. Basel Ramadan's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 12.

Basel and Samir Ramadan lived next door to each other in the quiet Oyster Harbor neighborhood of West Ocean City, where some knew them as "Sal" and "Sam," respectively. They had grown up in Worcester County, with family roots on the Eastern Shore dating to the 19th century, family members said.

Using business fronts in Virginia, the Ramadan brothers purchased cigarettes wholesale, court records state. They stored the merchandise at a rented warehouse in Dagsboro. The ring moved more than 1.37 million cartons of untaxed cigarettes into New York City boroughs and two upstate counties from December 2008 to May 2013 — a pace of roughly 20,000 cigarettes a week, the indictment states.

Cigarettes were transported by several New York-based distributors and resellers who sold to groceries and merchants. A driver would move the supply and the cash back and forth to New York, according to the indictment.

Police found that the Ramadans had purchased tens of millions of dollars worth of cigarettes. More than $55 million in cash, transported in garbage bags, had been taken into Ocean City and laundered through various small businesses, the indictment states. The driver at times would drive with as much as $100,000, authorities allege.

Authorities said the Ramadans generated more than $10 million in profits from their illegal activities. The criminal charges alleged that the operation stiffed New York state out of $80 million in cigarette tax revenue.

"This business is better than selling drugs," one participant in Brooklyn was heard to tell another on a federal wiretap, police said.

The 244-count indictment charged all 16 co-conspirators with enterprise corruption, money laundering and related tax crimes. Each faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.

On June 25, two other men who served as New York-based cigarette distributors in the enterprise had criminal court hearings in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Ahmad Abdelaziz of Brooklyn pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption. He faces one to three years in prison at his Aug. 12 sentencing.

Yusef Odeh of Staten Island, N.Y., pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption and second-degree conspiracy conspiracy to commit murder. He faces sentences of two to six years in prison when he is sentenced July 7.

Prosecutors also said co-conspirator Muaffaq Askar, who sold contraband cigarettes to retails, had already pleaded guilty to charges that he attempted to evade cigarette tax, a felony. He has been sentenced to a conditional discharge, prosecutors said.